Exam Question 4 Flashcards
Apparel manufacturing has become a global phenomenon. Discuss this statement
Manufacturers in the USA and Europe are still producing garments in their own factories. The production itself is done by a contractor. This is not yet the case in South Africa. Most garments are imported from China or other Asian countries, or made by the manufacturers themselves. The South African clothing and textile industry has been on a downward slide for some time, with huge job losses. Our plants are not efficient and productive enough, and we are hampered by our labour laws. Retailers also complain that local suppliers are not reliable enough and that it takes longer for a local producer to deliver goods than what it takes to order, and have it produced and shipped from China.
Systems used by manufacturers in fashion development and apparel production.
Progressive bundle system
Whole garment system
Modular manufacturing system
Progressive bundle system
In Progressive bundle system, each operator does different operations of a garment. All sewing machines needed to make the garment are laid in a line. Cut parts are fed in a bundle form. When an operator receives a bundle of cut components, she opens the bundle and does her operation (job) for all pieces of the bundle. After completing her job she moves the bundle to the next operator who is doing next operation. Numbers of people are involved in sewing a single garment. Major benefits of this system are – as operators do only single or limited operation, their performances increases. Secondly, product consistency can be maintained garment to garment. Most of the export oriented garment manufacturers adopted progressive bundle system as a main production system.
Whole garment system
This is essentially the traditional method of production whereby one operator assembles the entire garment. In men’s bespoke wear, it is not uncommon for a tailor to perform nearly every operation required to make the garment, including machining, hand work and pressing.
With this production system the operator would be given a bundle of cut work and would proceed to sew it according to his or her own method of work. Of necessity, the labour required by this system must be highly skilled and versatile, a combination which is becoming exceedingly rare and increasingly expensive.
This type of system is effective when a very large variety of garments have to be produced in extremely small quantities. A typical application would be in the sewing room of a boutique, which produces its own merchandise.
Modular manufacturing system
In ‘Modular production system’ sewing operators work as a team. Neither they sew complete garment nor do they sew only single operation. Multi skilled operators form a group and each of the team members do multiple operations. In modular system, operators help each other to finish the garment quickly and team is fully responsible for quality and production. In modular, always team performance is measured instead of individual operator performance. This system is very successful where quick response is needed.
The fashion marketing chain
The traditional view
Vertical integration
Full package manufacturing
The traditional view
The traditional view of the supply chain considers the individual companies and
elements within a firm as separate units that represent “functional” entities.
Vertical integration
Vertical integration is a strategy where a company expands its business operations into
different steps on the same production path, such as when a manufacturer owns its
supplier and/or distributor.
Full package manufacturing
Full package manufacturing means that the sourcer only develops styles and
specifications. The contractor then develops the patterns based off of the styles and
specifications, sources all materials, makes the samples, and produces and ships the
samples for approval to the sourcer.
